Some of the walls in my house, have developed cracks, which are 2 to 4mm wide. One crack, runs diagonally, from floor level to about 80% of the wall height, and other cracks run along the window frames. The house is built on a concrete beam and column structure, but apparently the foundation in one corner has sunk a bit, due to heavy construction in close vicinity. The impacted walls, are not load bearing walls.

I am planning to paint my house, and wanted to fix these deep cracks prior to that. I've been told by few people that pressure grouting might be an acceptable solution, and wanted to check. Reading around the web, I see pressure grouting involving drilling big holes (about 2-3cm dia) in the wall, and grouting them, but couldn't figure out the purpose of doing so. Also, I've seen some photographs showing grouting attempts of the foundation itself by pressure-grouting deep holes near foundation. So, the process, and recommendations aren't clear.

Finally, does grouting / pressure-grouting require specialized tools, equipment and skills, or can one attempt this DIY ?

Edit:
Forgot to mention that the cracks in question, appear on both sides of the wall, so it is not just a crack in the plaster-work.

Edit2:
Building is not old - about 7 years. Cracks developed about 3 years back, and I think I've not seen them grow in the last 1 year.

1 Answer
1

It is a potential solution. Buildings will settle and they usually do around 2-5 years of structure being built.

The question is, is this normal structure settling or does this building have some issue that will cause it to move more. It hasn't moved in the past year so I could really go either way with this.

Pressure grouting could work. It will allow very little movement but some. The worst case scenario is you have hairline cracks a year or a few years later after doing this. If water isn't an issue and you can live with the small cracks than I give this a strong maybe.

I would normally suggest going with an epoxy solution that would be stronger and have more flex.

Thanks @DMoore. From what I understand, epoxy-resin filling would not be a structural aid to the wall, but only act as a "filler" right ? Is it the same for the pressure grouting with the cement based mix ?
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icarus74Apr 27 '13 at 5:20

Epoxy is stronger than concrete, so it would be a structural aid. Urethane is also an alternative due to your building could be still shifting. I would call a few foundation companies to get quotes. See what they would use. See what type of warranty you have with different products. From experience you don't save a ton of money doing this yourself. I have a hard to giving pointed advice because of possible movement. Paint your house a light color though.
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DMooreApr 27 '13 at 21:55